Emergency and health experts warn Australia is heading into the first of a series of high-risk bushfire seasons, as overlapping bushfire periods stretch resources. Record-breaking dry conditions and warmer than average temperatures during early spring are behind the increased fire risk for large areas of Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, say Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) in …

Brittany Higgins has broken down in tears during cross-examination in the Federal Court, as lawyers for Bruce Lehrmann suggested she had not been raped at Parliament House in 2019. CONTENT WARNING: This article contains graphic details of sexual assault allegations.  Mr Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for broadcasting an interview with Ms Higgins on The Project, …

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says a backbench push for more cost-of-living relief is “not unusual”, as the government faces pressure to do more in its mid-year budget update. Mr Chalmers will today meet with Labor MPs calling for additional relief, but said next month’s Mid-Year Economic Financial Outlook should be considered an update, not a “mini-budget” with additional relief measures. …

The Israeli military and Hamas have agreed to extend the truce for a seventh day. The truce was expected to expire at 3pm AEST but in the final minutes, both sides have agreed to extend the truce for at least one more day. Hamas said it had agreed to extend the truce with Israel in Gaza for a seventh day. …

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, as he warned that the bombarded Gaza Strip was becoming a “graveyard for children.” “The unfolding catastrophe makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more urgent with every passing hour,” he told reporters at the UN headquarters. “The parties to the conflict — and, indeed, the international …

Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, calling for an urgent ceasefire in the enclave, where Palestinian health authorities said the death toll from Israeli strikes had exceeded 10,000. Both Israel and the Hamas militants who control Gaza have rebuffed mounting international pressure for a ceasefire. Israel says hostages taken by Hamas …

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has invited China’s President Xi Jinping to visit Australia as the two leaders “worked out some problems” in a face-to-face meeting in Beijing. Albanese declared his high-level talks with Xi “very successful” while the Chinese president said they were ushering a new era in relations. The prime minister met with the Chinese president in the Great …

Anthony Albanese won’t admit he trusts Xi Jinping, but says the Chinese President has never let him down as he prepares for a crucial meeting with him in Beijing. The Prime Minister arrived in China on Sunday night Australian time, and has left open the possibility of Australia backing its bid to join a trans-Pacific trade bloc. Albanese has also …

The reverberations of the spectacularly failed Voice referendum are continuing to hit the Albanese government, leaving it in a politically weaker position to convince Australians they are the better option to handle the cost-of-living crisis squeezing them. Ministers are anxiously awaiting the Reserve Bank board’s decision on Tuesday under new governor Michele Bullock on whether it will raise interest rates …

When the prime minister flies out of the country, it’s standard protocol for there to be an acting PM. In most cases, it’s the deputy prime minister who fills in. That person is Defence Minister Richard Marles, or “the DPM” as staff call him. Getting to sit in the big chair clearly offers a point of pride. This week, with Anthony …